Psychological change process of some Naikan persons by Intensive naikan. “We foucused on “narrative changes” in Naikan paersons by Niakan interview.”

Abstract

  This study focused on changes in patient narratives about the Naikan interview, aiming to reveal the psychological transformation process that patients follow during Intensive Naikan therapy. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 Naikan patients who had previously indicated that they had realized beneficial effects after receiving the therapy. We focused on the narrative portions of their speech data from their interviews, and analyzed them qualitatively using M-GTA. Patient narratives were greatly affected by three factors: the mutual relationship with the interviewer; the special nature of the Naikan setting; and changes in patients’recognition of the past. The impact of these factors is shown to vary in three stages according to the deepening of Naikan therapy. At the same time, we show that Naikan patients’ recognition of each factor also undergoes a similar change. We have developed a hypothetical model of the relationship between the changes in patient narratives in their interviews, and the three impact factors. And we have further included a discussion about the association between a Naikan patient's narrative and their psychological transformation process.